Device for the automatic control of engines.



F. J. A. FRANQUIST. DEVICE FOR THE AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF ENGINES.

' APPLICATION FILED NOV- 25.19l2. 1,188,061.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- J MM I m OZMQ J Patented June 20, 1916.

F. J. A. FRANQUIST. DEVICE FOR THE AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF ENGINES.

' APPLICATIOV FILED NOV. 25. 1912. 1,188,061.

Patented J M620, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 3mm MAW/L WWW:

Mga 3 J) se i em F. J. A. FRANQUIST.

. DEVICE FOR THE AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-25,1912.

Patented June 20, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- FRANK .r. A. FRANoUIs'r, or NEW BRUNSWICK, new JERSEY.

DEVICE FOIt THE AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF ENGINES.

. peciflcation of Letters Patent. Patented June 20, 1916.

- Application filed November 25, 1912. Serial 'No. 733,335. c

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK J. FRAN- UIsT, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Brunswick, in the county of Middlesex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and nesful Improvements in Devices forthe Automatic Control,

of which the following is a full,

of Engines, clear, and exact descrlption.

' This invention relates to thecontrol of engines and more particularlyto the a uto-' matic control .ofinternal combustion engines.-

As is well known, in engines of this kind, the gas mixture in passing tothe engine is ordinarily under a vacuum or reduced pressure as long asthe engine is running, due to suction of the mixture into the ignitionchamber or chambers, and this vacuum varies in accordance with the speedof. the motor or the pistonspeed with a given throttle. It has beenfound that the vacuum as well as the variance thereof can be made to doefficient work in connection with the controloiling, throttling and thelike. I

This invention has for its principal object therefore to provide asimple, practical device enabling the use'of a vacuum for effectingvarious kinds of engine control.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of of various features of an engine such as elements andarrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the constructionhereinafter set forth and claimed.

f In the accompanying drawings wherein are shown some of the variouspossible em-. bodiments of my invention, Figure-1 representsan end viewof an engine with a pop 1 tion broken away showing the device used inconnection with an oiling means of the splash type; Fig. 2 represents aside view of the. device in cross-section associated with an oil pipe ofan oil supply system; Fig. 3

represents a side view of the motor (partly in-cross-section) showingthe device as used in connection with a throttle; Fig. 4 represents aside view, partly in section, of the device used in connection with anautomobile starter switch; and Figs. 5 and 6 are side yiews of the motorshowing the device.-

used in connection with the gears and associated apparatus of aself-starter.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the'variousviews of 1 the drawings. I 1 Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings,

shown as a ring and rivet structure. rod is adapted to be guided by thewall of an aperture passing through 'a head 13 of the lower section 9.The lower extremity of trough 1 designates the cylinders of a fluidoperated engine here shown as an internal combustion engine, providedwith flanges 2 on either side thereof, to one of which is attached inany suitable manner the intake manifold 3 serving to conduct the fuelmixture to the explosion chambers; the other flange 2 may be utilizedfor the attachment of a manifold or piping for the exhaust gases fromthe engine. The intake manifold extends along and joins the variouscombustion chambers of the engine in a well known manner. The

chambers are provided with pistons (not shown) in the usual manner. Fromthe lowerportion of the manifold, at a point here shown adjacent to theflange 2, extends downwardly a pipe 4 which is of relatively smalldiameter as compared with that of the manifold. The lower extremity ofthe pipe 4 passes through the wall of the upper section or vacuumcompartment 5 of a. diaphragm chamber, thus forming a conduitfurnishing. communication" between the manifold and the interior of thesection 5 of the diaphragm chamber. The section 5 of the diaphragmchamber is dished and isprovided with a dome 6 and a circular flange 7.Corresponding to this flange 7 is a flange 8 of the other section 9 ofthediaphragm chamber, and between flanges 7 and 8 rests .the diaphragm10 which may be of any suit- Through the center of the able material.diaphragm passes a rod 11 which is secured thereto by means of afastening 12 here This the rod 11 passes within the hollow upper portionof a rod 14 in which it may be ad-v justably secured by means of aset-screw; To the lower end of the rod 14 is pivotally attached asplash-trough lever 15 whose other extremity is attached to a rod 16 onthe interior of the crank case 17 of the motor.

This rod is suitably. supported by the crank case. Within the crank caseand connected to theaxial rod 16 is a shallow basinor Oil splash trough18 which is adapted to Inpve with the rod 1.6. The trough 18 is adaptedto be supplied with oil in any con'venie'ntl manner throughan oil pipe18. This U is. situatedimmediately beneath the cran and pitman 19 of theengine. To this pitman is'secured a scoop or paddle 20 which 'isadaptedto into'thetrough 18. The

trough 18 and the rods 11 and 14 andthe lever 15 substantiallycounterbalance eachother. Attached to the fastening disk in the section5 of the diaphragm chamber is a spring 21. 'whose other extremityextends into the dome 6 and is attached to the adjusting set screw 22passing through the wall thereof. The screw 22 may adjust the tension ofthe spring and may thereby effect an adjustment of the diaphragm. Thelower section 9 is provided with spaced orifices 23 to provide foraccess of the atmosphere to this section. According to thisconstruction, the trough 18 will be raised or lowered according to thevacuum produced in themanifold 3, and thus the spoon on the pitman willdip into a greater or less depth of oil in the trough 18 according as towhether the trough is raised or lowered. The amount of oil taken up bythe spoon is thus regulated, and since the spoon is adapted to feed oilto the piston, shaft bearings, etc., by splashing them in a well knownmanner, it will be seen that the supply. of oil is thus effectivelycontrolled. In the operation of this particular embodiment, the suctioncreated by the vacuum or reduced pressure in the manifold 3 istransmitted to the interior of section 5 and pulls the diaphragm upwardagainst the pressure of the spring 21. The diaphragm transmits itsmotion to the rods 11 and 13, forcing them upwardly and thereby loweringthe basin 18. The oil in the basin 18 is thus lowered and the amounttaken up by the spoon 20 for distribution by splashing is consequentlylessened. This lessening of the amount of oil is proper in view of thefact that the engine requires less oil when running with a smallthrottle opening under slight load, and under these conditions thevacuum in the manifold will be greatest and'hence the basin 18 will belowered to it lowest point. As the vacuum in the manifold becomes less,as by applying the load, or by opening the throttle, the diaphragm willtend to move under the action of the spring to raise the basin tothereby increase the oil supply.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the diaphragm is shown actuating anoil regulating valve which serves to control the supply ofoil passingthrough a pipe 24, which leads to the various bearings, pistons, etc. ofthe engine. Here, as in' Fig. 1, the pipe 4 is connected to the manifold3, a vacuum being thereby created in the upper section 5 in accordancewith the vacuum in the -manifold. The. diaphragm is here shown as raisedto its uppermost position against the pressure of thespring 21 by thisvacuum and thereby carries with it the rod 11, to the lower end of whichis integrally or otherwise attached the valve disk 25. This valve diskserves to close the aperture 26. The

aperture communicates with the inlet and the aperture 26. As the vacuumin the manifold becomes less, the valve 25 is forced off its seat by thespring 21, thus-permitting a greater flow of oil to the parts of theengine.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the section 9 of the diaphragm isprovided with a plate 30, through a stud on which passes the rod 11.This rod 11, here constituting a throttle rod, is attached to apiston-valve 31 forming part of a well-known type of Water jacketedthrottle controlling the flow of the mixture to the manifold. As hereshown, 32 represents the air-intake port, and a-conventional type ofspray is shown at 33. The mixture of air and gasolene, or similar fluid,passes into the manifold past the piston-valve 31 which controls theflow according to its position in the passageway 34 leading to themanifold. As here shown, the vacuum in the manifold is high and thediaphragm has consequently become sucked to almost its extreme positionfor high vacuum and has thereby moved the pistonvalve 31 to a positionto closely throttle the 7 mixture. When the vacuum in 3 becomes less, ofcourse the diaphragm will move to force thepiston-valve toward the spraymember 33 to thereby admit more mixture to the manifold.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4, the rod 11 is shown as connected to awire 34 leading from a storage battery, not shown. The rod 11 is shownas providing a-gap between its end and the end of a contact 35 of ablade-switch 36, here shown as mounted on the dash-board of a vehicle.This switch is connected by means of a wire 37 to a starting motor. Inconnection with the use of the terms engine and starting-motor herein,it is to be understood that engine refers to the main driving mechanism,shown in this embodiment as an internal combustion engine, whilestarting-motor refers to any of the well-known auxiliary mechanisms usedto start the engine. As here shown, the engine has been started, avacuum has been formed in the manifold 3, the diaphragm 10 has acted, towithdraw the rod 11 to break the contact therebetween and the contactmember 35. Under these conditions, the circuit to the starting motor isbroken and the clashing of the gears of the starting-motor and those onthe shaft of the engine is avoided, even if the bladeswitch has not beenthrown to off position. Of course, under ordinary circumstances it thecontact member 35, thus'making it possible upon the closure of theblade-switch 36 to start the engine by the starting motor in the usualmanner.

. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5, there is set forth an automaticmeans for throwing out the gear of a starting motor. .As there shown,the rod 11 is connected to a pinion 38 by means of a collar 39 attachedto the pinion and a stirrup 40, through the fork of which passes the rod11 which is thereby so joined to the stirrup 40 that the latter mayrotate thereabout. The pinion 38 and collar 39 are adapted to slidealong the groove 41 in the shaft 42 of the starting motor 43. Thestirrup 4O embraces the end of the shaft 41 and this sliding motion iscontrolled by the motion of rod 11 which in turn is controlled by themotion of the diaphragm. As there shown, the diaphragm has been movedmanually so that the pinion 38 engages with the gear 44 on the; flywheel45 of the engine and therefore the starting motor 43 is in position tostart the latter. When the vacuum in the manifold 3 operates on thediaphragm 10, this pinion 38 will be moved along the groove 42throughrod 11, stirrup 40 and collar 39, out-of engagement with the gear44, so that clashing of this gear with the pinion will be prevented.

' In the embodiment shown in Fig. 6, the rod 11 is shown as adjustabl,attached by means of a set-screw 46 to a ocking-bar 47 adapted totravel back and forth in guides or bearings in a locking-bar hanger 48and locking-bar guide 49 attached to the under sidel of the foot-boardof. an automobile. On the rod 47 is screwed a locking-finger 50 which ispositioned to contact with the lower end of a starter-palal, 51,extending upwardlythrough the foot-board; and pivotally attached to ayoke 52 which is attached to a collar 53 secured to the pinion 54 whichvis adapted to co-act with'the gear 44 on the fly-wheel 45. As describedinconnection with Fig. 5, the pinion is adapted to travel backward andforward on the shaft 42 of a starting motor 43. As shown in Fig. 6, the

ermit the thrown in' mesh with the gear 44 through the yoke 52 and theengine will be actuated by the starting motor. When the engine has beenstarted and it is no longer necessary for the starting motor 43 to act,the starter-pedal is released and a spring 55 then throws the pinion 54out of mesh with the gear 44. vWhen the rod 11 moves under the influenceof the diaphragm 10, in accordance with the vacuum in 3, however, thelocking-finger 50 will come under the end of the starter-pedal 51 thuslocking the starter-pedal in position so that as long as the vacuumremains in the manifold 3, or, in other words, substantially as long asthe engine runs, the starter-pedal for the starting motor may not bethrown in. 1

According to these embodiments, then, it will be seen that a very usefuland highly practical invention for securing the automatic control ofinternal combustion engines is secured. The device is extremely cheap tomanufacture and may be installed with substantially no difficulty and atan extremely low cost upon all makes of engines. In action, the devicenot only achieves economy in the use of oil and fuel, but also, as willbe obvious from the foregoing description, provides safety locking meansin connection with self-starters.

The action of the apparatus herein de scribed in connection with thelubrication of the engine has a peculiar and advantageous significance.In all mechanical oilers heretofore devised, the feed of oil dependsupon crank-shaft speed, so that when the engine is running at high speedwith no load or a light load, the same quantity of oil is delivered aswhen the engine is running at the same speed on a heavy load. But whenrunning at no load or a light load, less .oil is required than whenrunning on a heavy load. Consequently there is a waste of oil and acondition approaching engine flooding, fouling of spark'plugs and soforth arises.- With a controller such as I have invented, the feed ofthe oil depends upon the load on the engine, because the load isresponsible for the degree of vacuum in the manifold. As the loadincreases, the vacuum drops. Applicant has utilized this fact in amechanism which feeds more oil as the load increases, and vice versa,thus preventing waste and flooding under no load or light loadconditions. Sight 'feed lubricators have the same defect as .themechanically driven libricators, i, 6., they feed fastest at light loadswhen the least lubrication is required.

- Having thus described my invention what I claim is p 1. In an internalcombustion engine provided with a fuel inlet passage, a source oflubricating fluid and means for automatically supplying an increasedamount of said lubricating fluid to a part of said engine upon adecrease of vacuum in said passage.

2. In an internal combustion engine provided with a fuel inlet passage,a source of lubricating fluid, a device connected with said source forcontrolling the supply of lubricant from said source to a part of saidengine and means for automatically actuating said device to increase thesupply of lubricant upon a decrease of vacuum in the fuel inlet passageof the engine.

3. In an internal combustion engine provided with a fuel inlet passage,a source of lubricating fluid and means for automatically supplying anincreased amount of said lubricant to a part of said engine upon adecrease of vacuum in the fuel inlet passage, comprising a device forcontrolling the supply of lubricant from said source to .said part,means acting on said device conlubricating fluid to a part of saidengine upon a decrease of vacuum in said passage, said means comprisinga conduit connecting said source with a part of the engine other thanthe fuel inlet passage, a valve in said conduit for controlling theflow. of the lubricating fluid, and means for automatically opening saidvalve upon a decrease of vacuum in the fuel inlet passage of the engine.

5. In an internal combustion engine provided with a fuel inlet passage,a source of lubricating fluid and means for automatically supplying anincreased amount of said lubricating fluid to a part of said engine upona decrease of vacuum in said passage, said means comprising a conduitconnecting said source of lubricating fluid with a part of the engineother than the fuel inlet passage, a valve in said conduit controllingthe flow of the lubricating fluid, means acting on said valve tonormally maintain it open and means opposing said last named means toautomatically close said valve upon an increase of vacuum in said fuelinlet passage.

In Witness whereof, I subscribe my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

.FRANK J. A.-FRANQUIST. Witnesses: I

WALDO M. CHAPIN, IDA M. PATTERSON.

